Do "Rock Stars" Need Social Media Strategies?

Any buzz is good buzz, right?

We live in an era where if you are not on the internet, you might as well be living under a rock. The internet has had that great of an impact on the world we live in today. Everywhere you look, it is this company saying "Like us on Facebook!", that company saying "Follow us on Twitter!”; there is no escaping it. There comes a point where we ask ourselves, where is the ingenuity and creativity? Where is the do-it-yourself? It seems as if we have come ultimately dependent on these social networking tools and such, even the most creative niche of beings: musicians. 

I will admit, my own band uses these tools and are thankful for them. Though, we have been placed in a time and scene where this is the "the norm". We were entering into middle school when bands were becoming stadium-ready musicians from the help of a little website called Myspace. Today we have Facebook, the great successor to Myspace. If these sites didn't exist, what would have been our promotion tool? Que the argument: musicians have become so dependent on these social media strategies that it is beginning to knock their genius and creativity. I find my own muse being ultimately duped by almost feeling obligated to come up with a 145 word message to send out to my followers. The majority of the time they are pointless, completely irrelevant to anything we are doing music wise, and or just an utter waste. In no way am I knocking my belief that it is absolutely essential that a band has a connection with their followers, I want to point out the thin line that, if crossed, the artist's creativity might become doomed. Mind you, these sites claim to be tools, and everyone must remember that. They are to be used to make connections and for promotion. The majority has overlooked the fact that they are using the sites for the wrong reason. 

            Ergo, from the way I see it, these strategies should be used carefully, enough so that the band or "rock star" is able to promote themselves efficiently, but not overuse them. It is always essential to keep a sort of impenetrable curiousity to yourself if you are a musician.